mary fahl

Mary Fahl’s Poignant Track Going Home

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American singer Mary Fahl gained considerable amount of cult following as October Project’s lead vocalist.The band’s music possesses lush , somewhat haunting melodies, superb harmonies and intricate arrangements . But it was Fahl’s voice, a dark, souring contralto that defined the band’s identity. It could have been a god’s voice crying from heaven.

Two albums later , the band was dropped from Epic records after failing to generate ‘mainstream’ hits.The unmistakable voice resurfaced with the release of her EP Lenses of Contact followed by constant touring. The other Side of Time(Sony Classical) is a follow up but too bad it never got released on local shores. Her voice has the nuance of Enya , the power of Celine Dion and the sensuality of Diana Krall. She knows exactly how to highlight a particular note and to give life to songs even with shy melodies. Going Home is taken from this album. It sounds as if it’s coming from the American Antibellum period with its somber verse only to progress into a sweeping chorus .Ulillean pipes, tin whistle and strings harmonize with the wonderful melodies creating a sketch of sweeping landscapes which is undeniably Celtic . Mary sings:

Love waits for me ’round the bend

Leads me endlessly on

Surely sorrows shall find their end

and all our troubles will be gone

And I’ll know what I’ve lost

and all that I’ve won

when the road finally takes me home…

And you can’t help but feel the emotions there. No wonder it has been chosen as an opening theme for an epic civil war film Gods and Generals. She also looks beautiful that she could have stepped out from a pre-raphaelite painting. But it doesn’t matter what she looks like. I’d still buy her albums for her voice alone.

Here’s the video for Going Home.

Mary Fahl’s The Other Side of Time

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I am down with a mild flu. I am in and out of bed getting water and playing my music on minimum volume. Been listenign to The Other Side of Time by Mary Fahl. I like this album in a sense that it is a fusion of different genres of music. You find Celtic, Jazz, Cinematic  and even a bit of Classic Rock .

Mary’s rich contralto is embelished by slick instrumental performance of each contributing guests. It is a departure form the Gothic drama of  October Project but it doesn’t fail to find new audience. This is a kind of album that gets sold at a slow pace but finds a build up of  loyal followers.

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Upcoming Mary Fahl Tour Dates

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Mary Fahl

Mary Fahl

For fans of October Project and Mary Fahl‘s solo project,you can check out her upcoming appearances here. It has been a long time since she released her debut album The Other Side of Time, followed by a track by track take of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon titled From The Dark Side Of The Moon. Mary has the vocal pipes made for the Gods .

Could October Project be the same without her? She defined what a ‘vampire kiss’ means when you have such a voice. Interview With The Vampire could have been the ticket the band needed in order to make it to the mainstream. But they instead used the lame Guns and Roses track which is actually a cover of a Rolling Stone original .

For a much more detailed information, click here:Mary Fahl

Mary Fahl’s kick ass take on a Pink Floyd Album:She is a Goddess!

/ mrbaxteria2008 / 2 Comments

Although this album is not necessarily Celtic , Mary Fahl possess a voice that crosses genres.She has a distinctive atmospheric vocals that can bring to mind images of medieval castles and haunted monasteries. Mary Fahl has the ‘it’.I am not a Pink Floyd fan and I would never even spend a buck on their album Dark Side of the Moon but upon hearing Mary Fahl’s involvement on the track by track take on each of the songs in this highly acclaimed old album ,you bet I could not keep my self from whooping. Forget the fact that this project doesn’t really stay true to the original(hell,Pink Floyd doesn’t really kick my ass ) or that some critics may find most of the track spacey or even ethereal or operatic, I don’t care. All I want to hear was her vocals. I was never disappointed upon hearing songs like ‘Money” and “Brain Damage’. It just proves that Mary Fahl can hack sounding soulful one moment and angelic the next.She has a very versatile voice. In a place where Lisa Gerrard, doesn’t allow her voice to go falsetto, Mary hacked her way into Sarah Brightman’s realm even if she is a pure contralto with a big cinematic voice. It seems that V2 records folded up even before this record was able to receive a mainstream release but it is OK. As long as there are bloggers out there who are like me. As long as Mary doesn’t give up recording then she can bet her five cents that I wont stop writing about her.